Traditional cellular wireless networks are deployed as a web of macrocells. The web of macrocells is typically laid out in a uniform grid-like formation, wherein each macrocell has a typical coverage radius of perhaps one to five or more kilometers. The uniform grid-like formation ensures that each macrocell has a common coverage boundary with its neighboring macrocells, with a typical maximum of 6 neighboring macrocells. FIG. 1 is a pictorial diagram of an exemplary web of macrocells laid out in a uniform grid-like formation. For example, macrocell P1 shares common coverage boundary B1 with neighboring macrocell P2. Similarly, macrocell P1 shares common coverage boundary B2 with neighboring macrocell P3. Further, macrocell P1 has a maximum of 6 neighboring macrocells, viz. P2-P7.
Since the macrocells are typically laid out in a uniform grid-like formation, wherein each macrocell typically has a cell radius of one to five or more kilometers in radius, which results in a large coverage area, a network consisting of macrocells has a finite bandwidth of frequency resources, time resources, and code resources (collectively “airlink connection resources”) available to each of an ever increasing number of subscriber devices including, but not limited to cellular telephones, desktop and laptop personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other devices that use wireless technology within the macrocells. As the number of subscriber devices increases, there may be extended periods of time where there are insufficient airlink connection resources available to provide the required levels of service to the increased number of subscriber devices. Unavailability of the finite bandwidth of airlink connection resources is experienced, for example, by cellular telephones “dropping” calls and content of web pages on cellular telephones and computers not downloading completely.
Further, in traditional wireless networks, the subscriber devices within each macrocell are provided with a list of neighboring macrocells for handover of services to a suitable neighboring macrocell using a “push” schema. The “push” schema dictates the subscriber devices to continuously scan resources used by the neighboring macrocells for handover purposes. The network uses the scanned measurements to determine when handover incidents should take place. As is known to one skilled in the art, a handover is the changing of a subscriber device's access connection or airlink connection resources from one radio access node (“node”) to another. A handover is typically the result of a mobile subscriber device that leaves the coverage area of one macrocell and enters the coverage area of another. At other times, a handover is done by the network to shift traffic from one macrocell to another if, for instance, one macrocell is more heavily loaded than the other and the subscriber device can receive the required level of service from either. The continuous scanning of neighboring macrocells by subscriber devices for handover purposes also increases the battery drain of the subscriber devices by placing an additional burden on the subscriber devices to process the resources. Furthermore, since macrocells can be added (or deleted) to a coverage area, neighboring macrocells could change. This change results in continually updating the list of macrocells. Continually updating the list and making it available to the subscriber devices is an inefficient schema, especially since the subscriber devices need a complete and correct list in order to “push” services from one macrocell to a suitable other.
Based on the above-described deficiencies associated with traditional wireless networks, there exists a need for a network that addresses the unavailability of the finite bandwidth of airlink connection resources by not only dynamically creating macrocells using an extemporaneous and an “as needed” deployment methodology, but also dynamically creating a plurality of cells smaller in size than macrocells using the same extemporaneous and “as needed” deployment methodology. The plurality of smaller cells are dynamically created within the coverage boundary of each macrocell wherein each smaller cell offers the same bandwidth of airlink connection resources to an ever increasing number of subscriber devices that is available from just the larger macrocells in the traditional wireless networks. There also exists a need for the network to have nodes within the smaller cells to continuously scan resources in use by the other nodes within the same or neighboring cells for handover incidents using a “pull” schema rather than have the subscriber devices continuously scan the resources in use by the neighboring cells for handover incidents using the “push” schema.